Botswana: Stepping up efforts to handle illegal immigrants

Botswana has unveiled plans to build an additional centre to house the growing numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into the country, mainly from neighbouring Zimbabwe. The new centre, expected to be situated in Molepolole, a village 60 km west of the capital, Gaborone, is meant to ease the pressure on a similar facility in Francistown, which is already stretched to capacity. Tension between the two countries has been simmering in recent years as increasing numbers of Zimbabweans entered Botswana, both legally and illegally, in a bid to escape the economic crisis at home.